Amateur Career
During his amateur career, Nielsen went 104-7. Nielsen won bronze medals in the super heavyweight division at the 1991 European Championships and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Brian Nielsen became good friends with some of Korsor ABK's best boxers, Mark Hulstrøm and Kenneth Franklin, and it was friendships that inspired Brian Nielsen. He would also box real bouts. It was not a thought that his trainer, Johnny Antonsen, was thrilled with. For a long time he simply refused to let Brian Nielsen box real bouts because he thought it would be bad publicity for his club. But Brian Nielsen really wanted to box a real bout, And his biggest dream was to become Champion of Zealand.
After prolonged plague from Brian, Johnny Antonsen finally gave after. However, he didn't want Brian Nielsen to box on home ground, cause the local spectators in Korsor should not be exposed to such a bad boxer. Instead, Brian Nielsen was sent to Svendborg, where Johnny Antonsen had arranged a match against the local hero Carsten Dahl. Brian Nielsen had all odds against him. He was still severely overweight, and had zero technical qualities. Trainer Johnny Antonsen ddnt even want to follow his boxer to Svendborg, because he was afraid of being laughed at. Instead, Brian Nielsen was seconded by his good friend and fellow boxer, Kenneth Franklin.
The fear turned out to be unfounded. Brian Nielsen easily beat Carsten Dahl, winning the bout by knockout in the second round. Carsten Dahl later got the opportunity for revenge, but again Brian Nielsen won by knockout.
It was a sign of things to come for Brian Nielsen. Although it didn't always look pretty, he won the vast majority of his matches. He was both Zealand champion and Danish champion for five consecutive years (1988-1992), and also won numerous international tournaments. His career as an amateur ending after the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 where he won the bronze. In the semifinals he lost to the powerful Cuban Francisco Balado (Balado died in a car accident about a month after the Olympics).
In total, Brian Nielsen boxed 111 fights as an amateur and won 104. Only once in amateur career was Brian Nielsen counted, and only once was he stopped before time - during a European Championship, where he was stopped by the doctor due to a cut near one of his eyes.
Read more about this topic: Brian Nielsen (boxer)
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